Seems to me that once I soak and block the swatch, the gauge will look more like 4 sts/in.

BUT...

The gauge on the label is 14 sts/4 in., or 3.5 sts/in.!

Now, I've stretched the swatch laterally to 3.5 sts/in., and the stitches look way too stretched. It looks better when stretched to 4 sts/in. Maybe I have to wait until I finish the swatch and soak and block it, but that gauge seems like a bit much. The label does not state rows per inch.

The good news is that I'm designing a sweater from scratch, so I can fit the project to the gauge instead of the other way around. The sweater is for my DH, and as the last one came out way too big after soak/block, neither he nor I want that to happen again. I'm a little freaked that I won't get the cast-on number right.

Anyone have any thoughts?

Ceil(Ravelry: ceilr)Time is never a factor when joy is involved.

5 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First)

Ceil

Posted - 12/18/2013 : 10:24:46 PM It's more than switching! For the longest time, I swatched but did not soak and block the swatch. The math comes out very differently both ways, and all my sweaters came out too big. Not any more!

Posted - 12/17/2013 : 5:41:18 PM Well, this is really interesting! I just now finished the swatch, let it soak while I washed my hair, and then got the swatch out of the drink and blocked it. And guess what: the gauge came out to 3.5 stitches per inch with no effort on my part! So I have my marching orders now. That's good, because if I had gone with 4 stitches per inch, the sweater would have come out too big. Never would have guessed this while I was knitting the swatch!

Ceil(Ravelry: ceilr)Time is never a factor when joy is involved.

Luann

Posted - 12/17/2013 : 3:20:18 PM That does seem like a big difference! I know that needle type sometimes makes a difference for me, I get a different gauge on bamboo or wood than I do on metal. Maybe you want to try a really big swatch (and soak it for a while) just to home in on it? Let us know! I've never used that yarn.